Curled around her mate and best friend, Desertstar pressed her nose into Eveningstorm’s fur, gently inhaling his scent and watching as pale light filtered through the old, splintering wood. She held him as tightly as she could without causing him discomfort, glad he was not awake to witness her desperation to keep him close. The morning had come too soon and the reality of her situation now weighed heavily on her. It felt wrong to leave them like this, blissfully unaware that she would soon be walking into a trap that she would most likely not return from, but it was for the best that they did not know. Soaking up what could be the last, precious moments with the ones she loved most, she rasped her tongue over Eveningstorm’s cheek in a bittersweet embrace. Then, on nimble feet, she quietly snuck out of camp and in the direction that Lighthollow had told her to go.
“Well, well, well— if it isn’t Desertstar,” Sandadder purred, watching as the golden leader approached them, “I take it that you did exactly as I asked?” he inquired, grinning so widely that his lips should have split apart.
With grace, Desertstar approached the border and stopped just a few fox-lengths from her father, eyes ablaze with a hatred far more intense than any fire. “Yes, now where are my kits,” she said in her coldest of tones, her tail lashing irritably behind her.
Sandadder stared at her, electing not to respond to her question. Instead, he turned to the warriors nearest to him. “Check the perimeter,” he barked to his henchmen, watching as they began searching for any uninvited guests. Once they had thoroughly combed through the area and they were sure that she had come alone, Sandadder let out a delighted sound. As his low laughter died down, he set his hard gaze on his daughter, the grin never leaving his face. “Seize her.”
Before Desertstar could react, she found herself pinned to the ground by two of Sandadder’s accomplices, and when the dust beneath her had settled, she saw that her children had been brought out— or rather, dragged out. Barely recognizable, the two apprentices struggled to lift their heads, clearly exhausted and covered in wounds both fresh and old. The leader’s heart lurched as she desperately tried to free herself, ignoring the sharp claws that penetrated her skin. “”You said you would let them go if I came here alone,” she thrashed, a bolt of panic shooting through her, dizzying and sick.
Sandadder laughed, enjoying the look of complete and utter helplessness on her face. “No, I said I would set them free,” Sandadder smiled and grabbed an apprentice, pulling Cactuspaw up by the scruff of her neck, “and what is more free than the sweet release of death?” he asked her, tilting his head.
A chill shot down her spine. “Please, no,” she whispered shakily, fearful eyes locked onto her daughter before they turned to Sandadder, alight with fury. “You’ve already got what you want.”
“My sweet, naive little girl,” he began softly, a cruel twist of his lips, “You should have known better and simply surrendered when I gave you the chance.” The joy then faded from his expression, replaced by something far more sinister. “Now I’m going to destroy you, and everything you’ve ever loved.”
Edgefrost
Riverclan Warrior
Looking over at Desertstar and her daughter, his eyebrows furrowed for a moment when watching Sandadder’s warriors flee, knowing they were losing this battle. A warning growl came from the large Maine Coon when Lighthollow approached them, but watched carefully as the tom just remained there. “Come on Sleekfeather.” Edge said quietly to himself, his thoughts were confirmed by Desertstar, and a small snort escaped him “Welcome to the family, I’m sure you’ll have a blast when we all decide to talk about our Daddy Issues.” The Maine Coon muttered sarcastically towards her, feeling his heart beating out of his chest as he watched the two cats in the water. Edge knew this was something that his older brother needed to take care of, besides.. If Sandadder managed to kill Sleekfeather, Edge would be after him within moments. A small sigh of relief escaped him when watching Sleekfeather releasing Sandadder, proud of his brother for taking the higher ground.. Proving he was better than Sandadder.
However everything happened within moments at the corner of his eye when spotting Sandadder suddenly leaping forward and grabbing Sleekfeather by the back of his neck, intending on murdering the black Bengal. Without hesitation, Edge left the Windclan leader’s side and suddenly ran towards the direction of Sleekfeather and Sandadder. The large tom lunged forward and his teeth connected into the side of Sandadder’s neck, causing the older tom to screech and release Sleekfeather. Dragging the other tom away from his brother, it wasn’t until Edge suddenly threw the rebel leader into the water. He knew Sandadder’s head had connected into the rocks within the water, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. It was like within moments, Edge was seeing red. All the effort that he had built up all these years had come crashing down, the doubt from others from Darktorrent to Snowstar had on him were correct.
He was a no good rogue, just like everyone had said from the moment he stepped foot within clan territory.
Wherever Twilightfoot was, Edge hoped that old bastard was having a good laugh about being right.
Without giving Sandadder any time to resurface from the water, Edge’s large paw suddenly went towards the Bengal’s chest and grabbed a pawful of fur, causing the tom to gasp for air once coming from the water. “Do not lay another paw on my brother-“ Edge said through gritted teeth as his paw connected to Sandadder’s face, causing the Maine Coon’s curved claws to slice through the older tom’s face. “Do you understand?” Edge hissed, connecting his claws into Sandadder’s face before suddenly slamming the tom’s face into the water. Feeling the older tom’s head connecting into a rock, blood surrounded the area as he knew the object had cut open Sandadder’s head. Lifting up the other tom’s head for a final time, Edge’s teeth were bared “Sleekfeather is better than both you and I, and it’s a shame that you ended up as his father.” He said, before slamming the tom’s head back into the water. Giving a warning glare to Sleekfeather and Desertstar, he felt the tom’s body grow limp before releasing it.
His dark green gaze watched as the Bengal’s body had floated up. The water began carrying Sandadder away almost gracefully. Edge had refused to look back towards the pair of siblings at first, making sure that the body had disappeared from his sight. Lowering his head for a moment, his gaze finally met Sleekfeather and the two had looked at each other for a while. It was almost like the two were having a silent conversation, their past had certainly come to haunt both of them within that moment. Both toms had to suffer with the sins of their father, carrying that burden with them for the rest of their lives.
Going towards Sleekfeather, the large Maine Coon was checking his brother for any wounds on his body. He knew that the dark Bengal needed to get checked out by a medicine cat. Watching Desertstar joining the two, her daughter was behind them. The three had looked at each other, before Edge dipped his head towards the Windclan leader “I’m sure all three of us need to have a conversation.. You and Sleekfeather mainly.” He said, knowing the two had plenty of questions about everything, from their upbringings to their family past. A couple of moments of silence surrounded Edge, thinking back on his actions towards the rebel leader. It wasn’t his proudest moment, but his actions had saved Sleekfeather’s life in the end.. No one messed with his family, if he was viewed as a bad guy so be it. After this day, Edge wouldn’t tell anyone about his actions.. Keeping it to himself for the rest of his life.
“Come on,” Edge said, turning around and helping Desertstar while Sleekfeather helped Desertpaw, heading towards the direction of Windclan camp “Desertstar needs to make it clear to everyone that she won the war..” Edge said, knowing this event would affect everyone’s lives that had been involved.